1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device which is suitable for use in a combined machine capable of performing the functions of a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known a combined machine which can execute by itself the functions of a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like. In such combined machine, in order to improve the productivity of jobs relating to the respective functions, there have been made various proposals as to what order these jobs are executed in, or as to what processing ratios these jobs are processed in parallel at.
For example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-130311 of Heisei, there is disclosed a device which processes the respective functions according to a given priority. Also, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-136934 of Heisei, there is disclosed a device which decides a processing order to execute a plurality of competitive functions in accordance with a condition specified by a user. Further, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-328066 of Heisei, there is proposed a device which is able to select functions to be operated simultaneously, a priority thereof, or an operation ratio thereof.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional devices, there are still left various problems to be solved as follows:
Firstly, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-130311 of Heisei, since the priority is fixed, a job having a low priority is deferred for future processing even if it has a slight amount of processing. Secondly, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-136934 of Heisei, a user is allowed to specify a processing order for execution of a plurality of functions but this requires a complicated operation. Also, if a job having a large amount of processing is started, then the remaining jobs are made to wait for a long time until the present job is ended.
Thirdly, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-328066 of Heisei, a user is allowed to set freely a processing order or a processing ratio for execution of a plurality of functions owned by a combined machine. Due to this, even if a plurality of jobs compete with each other, the jobs can be processed in parallel while they are switched over to each other. However, this requests the user to carry out a complicated operation. Also, generally, it is difficult for the user to judge what processing ratio is set at or what processing order is set in, in order to be able to process the jobs with the highest efficiency.